Conventionally, nonwoven fabrics have been applied to various articles. For example, an extensible nonwoven fabric has been favorably used for, for example, a skin patch base-material or some other article by use of the extensibility thereof. It is suggested that a nonwoven fabric which is a skin patch base-material is embossed, thereby recording the source or identifications (such as the manufacturer and the product name), a medicinal component of an ointment therein, and other pieces of information in order that the information can be understood even after the patch is taken from a package, or attaching importance to design.
For example, the applicant suggested a “stretchable nonwoven fabric having long recognizable concave units which are each a character, a figure, a pattern, a symbol, a picture, or a combination of two or more of these elements, and which are each recognizable by a matter that the unit itself is in a concave form, wherein the recognizable concave units are arranged in such a manner that a straight line consistent with the central axis of each of the units is oriented to cross any straight line parallel to the machine direction of the nonwoven fabric and any straight line parallel to the cross direction of the nonwoven fabric, and further the 50% modulus strength in the machine direction or the cross direction of the nonwoven fabric is 4 N/50-mm-width or less” (Patent Literature 1). At the beginning of the use of this stretchable nonwoven fabric, the recognizable concave units are certainly somewhat distinct or clear, so that pieces of information, such as the source, the medicinal component, and/or a design, can be gained. However, this nonwoven fabric has the following problem: when this nonwoven fabric is used as a skin patch base-material, the nonwoven fabric rubs against clothing, or something else, so that the recognizable concave units become indistinct; thus, the information, such as the source, the medicinal component and the design, becomes unable to be definitely recognized.
As another example, the following is suggested: a stretchable nonwoven fabric subjected to embossing, wherein at least two crimped conjugated fibers having melt-starting temperatures different from each other are intermingled and entangled with each other, and further fiber-intermingled/entangled regions of embossed concaves are neither melted nor bonded to each other” (Patent Literature 2). About this stretchable nonwoven fabric, the embossed concaves are rendered pieces of information, such as the source, the medicinal component, and/or a design. However, the texture of the stretchable nonwoven fabric is poor; thus, even at the beginning of the use thereof, the embossed concaves are indistinct so that the information is not precisely recognized.
As still another nonwoven fabric, the following is suggested: “a support for a medicinal patch for external use, characterized by embossing a nonwoven fabric containing a thermoplastic fiber, as a main component, and a low-melting-point fiber blended with the thermoplastic fiber, thereby engraving a character into the nonwoven fabric” (Patent Literature 3). In this support, the character is engraved by the embossing; however, as is evident from examples thereof, the low-melting-point fiber is melted and bonded. Thus, this support is not an extensible support.
Such pieces of information based on embossed concaves, such as the source, and a design, are not limited to skin patch base-materials as described above, and are problems that also occur in: a skin patch base-material onto which a cosmetic gel is to be applied in order to constitute a face pack, a skin patch base-material into which a lotion is to be impregnated in order to constitute a face pack, an interlining, and others.